5 Best Vaccine Stocks to Buy Now

2. Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 41

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) is a Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical firm that mainly develops drugs and vaccines based on messenger RNA. It is one of the firms that have developed a vaccine for the coronavirus pandemic and struck a deal with several countries for its production and supply. The firm has a market cap of more than $59 billion and posted more than $800 million in annual revenue in October 2020 that is expected to increase to more than $17 billion this year. Moderna is placed second on the list of 10 best vaccine stocks to buy now.

On April 15, equity research firm Oppenheimer gave Moderna a price target of $206 and reiterated an Outperform rating on company stock. Hartaj Singh, an analyst at Oppenheimer, said Moderna fared better than competitors because of efficient production of the vaccine. Out of the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, London-based investment firm Theleme Partners held the most shares – 5.3 million – worth more than $558 million. DE Shaw was 2nd with more than 3 million shares worth almost $325 million.

In their Q4 2020 investor letter, Baron Health Care Fund highlighted a few stocks and Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) is one of them. Here is what Baron Health Care Fund said:

“Moderna, Inc. is a leader in the emerging field of mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics. Shares pulled back from highs on likely profit taking, but we are looking past short-term fluctuations to focus on long-term potential. The pandemic has been a strong proof point of Moderna’s platform, with a COVID-19 vaccine coming to market in less than a year versus traditional vaccines that can take a decade. With this success under its belt, we think Moderna has potential to disrupt the entire biopharma space, from infectious disease vaccines to oncology and rare disease treatment.”